1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cable guiding chute suitable for use in combination with an earth slitting implement to guide and position a plurality of cables being dispensed from a cable reel or drum. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cable chute having a pivotally removable component to enable the expeditious insertion or withdrawal of a plurality of cables from the cable chute assembly.
2. The Prior Art
Various cable guiding chutes have been proposed by the prior art and include varying configurations and design. One very basic shortcoming in conventional cable chutes is the failure to provide an apparatus capable of (1) simultaneously guiding and laying a plurality of cables, or the like, without requiring a complicated structure, and (2) providing accessibility to the cable guiding conduits to remove, insert or replace cables as the need arises.
An example of the prior art includes, first, U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,545 to Mendaloff, which discloses a cable guiding compartment that is releasably maintained within the chute. This patent, rather than suggesting the present invention, illustrates one of the basic problems in the art, i.e. non-accessibility to the cable guiding conduits. Further, the suggested Mendaloff chute does not include the provision of cable guiding separators extending the length of the chute, thereby requiring additional guiding structure in the form of rollers.
Another example of prior art patents which broadly teach the idea of simultaneously guiding and laying a plurality of cables includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,222,876 and 3,338,060 to Harmstorf. These patents likewise do not teach the use of any structure to yield accessibility to the guiding chutes to accomodate ease in removing or inserting cables or the like.
Several prior art patents include a general teaching of a removeable component to provide accessibility to the interior of the cable guiding chute, examples of such prior art being U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,363,423 to Davis, 3,111,007 to Ryan, 3,405,533 to Fries and 3,417,571 to Kelley. It can readily be seen from these patents that there is no hint of the structure proposed by the present application which would yield accessibility to the interior of the cable chute capable of dispensing and guiding a plurality of cables or the like.
Yet another embodiment of a cable chute for dispensing a plurality of cables includes an arrangement consisting of a plurality of individual conduit members which may be connected to one another in a "piggy back" manner. This particular arrangement is highly undesireable for several reasons, including (1) in accessibility to the interior of any one or more of the cable guiding conduits, (2) the requirement of mounting structure for attaching each individual cable guiding conduit (3) the necessity of feeding cable longitudinally through the cable guiding conduit rather than by lateral insertion as proposed by the present invention, and (4) the time required for attaching each individual cable guiding conduit.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art cable chutes while providing numerous other advantages as will become apparent through study of the remaining portions of this application and through use of the suggested structure.